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Floods destroy nature centre's £20k new paths

Grant Wilson A man wearing wellies is standing in flood water which covers a path. The path runs through a field with grass, trees and bushes around it.Grant Wilson
The manager of Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre said flooding had caused about £15,000 of damage

Staff at a museum and nature centre in Shropshire say they have been left "picking up the pieces" after flooding badly damaged new meadow pathways.

Flood waters have caused £15,000 worth of damage at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre in Craven Arms, they estimated.

The centre looks after 30 acres (12 hectares) of wildlife habitat which include fields, pools and trails.

"They are flood meadows so we expect them to flood from time to time...the severity of this one has taken us by surprise, there was no named storm," said Grant Wilson, the centre's manager.

Over the summer, the centre secured funding and installed 400m (437yds) of accessible pathways through their meadows which cost about £20,000.

"They’ve been really well received by our visitors, especially those using wheelchairs, buggies," Mr Wilson told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"I came in to work yesterday morning to find that, basically, most of the new paths have been destroyed by the flood water.

"We’ve done so much work down there in the last few years, we’ve put in some new ponds, a new wetland area, a new dipping platform.

"It's all about creating accessibility, creating a nice place for people to come."

Grant Wilson A field with a large tree in it is submerged in water. The water is brown and muddy, with piles of dirt peeking from the surface in places.Grant Wilson
The centre looks after 30 acres of meadows

On Friday, Mr Wilson said staff had begun picking up damage and shovelling stone back on to the paths.

However he said it was difficult to know whether bringing back the accessible paths would be the right decision.

"I think we will be talking to people at the Environment Agency for some advice," he said.

"What used to be seen as once in a generation, once in a lifetime events, seem to be happening more and more frequently now."

Grant Wilson Wooden fencing is submerged in muddy brown water. The fencing leads to an area which was a pond but is submerged. You can see the top of a red life ring peeking out of the water. In the distance are green reeds, bushes and trees.Grant Wilson
Damage was also done to ponds and wetland areas

Elsewhere in the county, flood barriers were put up to prepare for rising river levels over the weekend.

The Environment Agency (EA) said its defences in Shrewsbury were installed on Thursday and it expected to need to put barriers up in Ironbridge either on Friday or Saturday.

Environment Agency Two people are dressed in bright yellow hi-vis jackets, and are wearing blue helmets. Their jackets say "Environment Agency". They are holding a long slat of a flood barrier, and are inserting it between two metal barriers. In the background is brown river water and green trees.Environment Agency
Flood barriers were put up in the county on Thursday

No further heavy rain is expected over the weekend but while the EA said some rivers have peaked, others were still rising and they expected flooding to be an issue for several days.

Water levels on Thursday on the Rea Brook near Shrewsbury were the highest ever recorded, according to the agency.

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